Madison Village will seek new applicants for administrator position

Madison Village residents will need to wait until at least January for their next village administrator, as council opens up another round for new applicants to apply for the position.
Councilman Duane Frager presented the search committee’s decision at Madison Village’s Council meeting Monday night.
“We have to get this one right,” Frager said. “If it takes more time, so be it.”
Fourteen people applied for the position during the first window, between July 25 and Aug. 30. From there, Mayor Sam Britton and members on the search committee, which include Frager, Fiscal Officer Tony Long, Councilman Mark Vest and Councilman Kenneth Takacs, interviewed the final three applicants.
Britton decided last week during a special meeting in executive session that he was not satisfied with the options and wanted to look at more potential applicants.
This round, the search committee has decided not to enforce any sort of deadline, but will meet Jan. 1 to review the new applicants and potentially make a selection. In addition, the committee has decided to make a few changes to the job description and its advertisements. One of those include eliminating the salary range of $48,000 and $55,000 previously outlined in the job description. Salary will be negotiable this time around, Frager said.
The village terminated its last administrator, Alyson Moritz, in February for performance issues and has been without an administrator since.
Previously, village officials had said they hoped to hire an administrator before mid-October when council is slated to begin drafting next year’s budget.
In other council news, Councilman John Hamercheck told council members and the mayor that the village’s project to supply adequate water pressure south of Interstate 90 is falling behind schedule.
He said it might jeopardize the Nov. 1 opening of the Madison Fire District’s Station No. 3.
Hamercheck, who chairs the Utility Advisory Group and is volunteering time to be a point person on the project, said he doesn’t expect the necessary water pressure of filling fire trucks to be ready when the station opens.
That was one of the goals in the village’s $1.45 million water service overhaul.
“We do not have firefighting capacity south of the freeway,” Hamercheck said. “We still only have two, 5-horsepower pumps servicing the area.”
Hamercheck said the station does have enough water pressure for domestic uses, like showering and washing dishes.
The news upset many council members and the mayor.
Britton and Hamercheck said they will meet with the contractors and keep council updated as the project unfolds.

About the Author

Simon Husted joined the News-Herald in February 2013. The Buffalo native and Kent State graduate covers schools and community issues in Fairport Harbor, Perry Township, Perry Village, North Perry, Madison Township and Madison Village. Reach the author at shusted@news-herald.com
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